The Journal of Nutrition recently published an article titled: Supplementing Breakfast with a Vitamin D and Leucine–Enriched Whey Protein Medical Nutrition Drink Enhances postprandial Muscle Protein Synthesis and Muscle Mass in Healthy Older Men.
Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function that is common in aging patients. Optimizing muscle anabolism could potentially help elderly people preserve or build their muscle mass. One way of doing so is by ensuring that these people get an adequate amount of high-quality protein at each meal.
This randomized controlled study (PROMOTION) showed an immediate effect of a specific medical nutrition drink on stimulation of postprandial (after a meal) muscle protein synthesis. Additionally, the study showed an increase in muscle mass after 6 weeks of intervention in healthy older adults. The medical nutrition drink included vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein. These observations support the evidence about the mode-of-action of the medical nutrition drink.
The study was performed in collaboration with Prof. Yves Boirie and Dr. Stephane Walrand (Clermont-Ferrand, France), well-known experts in the field of protein metabolism.